Death and Taxes
by Lanie L Sullivan
Summary: A short story written for the 35th anniversary fanzine to explain how Dotty came to live with Amanda.


Author: Lanie Sullivan

Written: 05/20/2018

Rating: PG

Note: Set pre-series to explain how Dotty came to live with Amanda.

Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

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Mother and daughter stood on the freshly-mown grass, arms loosely wrapped around one another's waists, neither speaking for a long time as they contemplated the direction their lives had taken, both separately and together.

Dotty was the first to break the silence. "Thank you for bringing me out here again," she said gratefully.

"Of course, Mother, anytime." She kissed her mother's cheek. "I like coming out here too. It may sound strange, but it makes me feel closer to him."

"Huh. I don't feel that way," the older woman replied with a sigh as she blinked back the tears that had started to form. "It seems like it makes him feel more distant." She nodded at the headstone. "It's hard to believe that it's been two months already since he left me."

"Oh, Mother, he didn't leave you, not by choice anyway." She frowned as she thought of her own husband who had left her repeatedly. She glanced down forlornly at her bare left hand, fiddling absently with her ring finger still unaccustomed to its emptiness.

"You mean, unlike your husband?" Dotty added as if sensing her daughter's thoughts.

"No, I-I-I didn't mean that at all. You know Joe…he-he had to leave for work so it wasn't really his choice either."

Dotty pulled back from her daughter and glowered at her. "He had other options, Amanda. He's a smart, well-educated lawyer from a well-to-do family. He could have had any job he wanted; he just chose not to. How you put up with it for so long, I'll never know, especially with the way his mother has always treated you as if you were intruding on her family."

"Mother, come on! Don't you think you're exaggerating just a little bit? I mean, she did agree to look after the boys today so we could come out here without having to wrestle with them too."

"Only because Jack insisted on it," her mother pointed out, "Because _he_ wanted to spend time with his grandchildren. His heart attack has made him really re-think the choices he's made with his life. It's just too bad his son couldn't learn a thing or two from his example."

"Mother, don't start in on the Kings. They've done the best they can to be supportive since they know we're going through a difficult time right now with losing Daddy."

Dotty snorted in response. "If you ask me, it's the _least_ they owe you and your children since they haven't bothered to be around much until now. It's no wonder Joe can't be bothered to come home more often; look what kind of example he's had set for him."

"Well, he's doing the best he can too," Amanda commented, but didn't really believe it and knew she didn't sound convincing.

"Then explain to me why you're not wearing your wedding ring anymore." She nodded to her daughter's empty ring finger. Off Amanda's surprised look, she added, "Yes, I noticed."

Amanda nervously fidgeted with her hands for a moment, finally covering the left with the right to hide it. "It…uh…it was just…I don't know…kind of an experiment…you know, to see how I felt without it." She turned away from her mother and stared straight ahead at her father's headstone. "I…uh…I just keep thinking about what Daddy said to me before he died; that he wanted me to be happy and that he could see that I wasn't happy with Joe anymore, so I…" Her voice trailed off as she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"I know you love Joe, Amanda, I really do, but your father wasn't wrong."

"I don't know if that's even true anymore," the younger woman confessed. "I know that I _loved_ him, but he's hurt me so much, been gone so much that I'm not sure I even know him anymore or if I ever did."

"Nonsense," her mother scoffed. "You don't just stop loving someone because they're gone." She gestured to her husband's headstone. "If you did, it wouldn't still hurt me so much not having your father around."

"It's only been a couple of months," Amanda pointed out. "Of course, you're still going to miss him and still hurt this soon. As for Joe, you're right. I do still love him, but I don't know that I'm _in love_ with him anymore. It's a certainty that I know I can't depend on him anymore, not when he didn't even come home for Daddy's service…or when I had to remind him three times that I needed him to send more money so the property taxes could be paid. When he's off doing what he's doing, he gets so involved in how important his work is that it doesn't occur to him that other things are important too."

"He's not still holding off on the money thing, is he?" Dotty asked in alarm.

"Oh, no!" she assured her mother. "He wired the money I needed a couple of days ago, just barely in time to avoid paying a penalty, but the point is that with him so far away and so wrapped up in what other people need, he doesn't even consider what his own family needs." She shook her head. "I can't keep living like that."

Dotty nodded again. "At least your father took care of a lot of things before he died to make sure I was take care of, life insurance, making sure our home would be paid off in the event of his death." She thought for a moment about her daughter's situation. "Oh my gosh! You just paid your property tax bill. Does that mean I owe one too? I didn't even think about that. Your father always took care of those things."

"Relax, Mother, I took care of it out of the money Daddy left for the boys and me."

"You shouldn't have done that, Amanda. That money was meant for you and your children and it's not your responsibility to look after me."

"Then whose responsibility, is it?" she questioned her mother. "Daddy's not here to do it anymore and I knew you wouldn't know the first thing about it. Besides, it really wasn't that much."

"Then why were you so desperate to get Joe to wire more money for your own taxes?"

Amanda sighed, "Because it IS his responsibility to help take care of our household expenses. Besides, I want to be able to take the rest of that money from Daddy to start college funds for the boys. It's something Joe and I always talked about doing, but never got around to doing. I can't keep waiting around for him to take the time to think about our children's future when they're growing up so fast."

"You know, you're going to have to help me with that kind of stuff…the household expenses…not just the monthly bills. I know how to take care of all that stuff because I always wrote the checks and made sure they were paid on time, but the other stuff, the insurance and the taxes and the maintenance and-" She broke off as her thoughts began to overwhelm her. She let out a deep sigh, shook her head and switched gears, "Although, I'm not sure I should even bother since I'm not there much anymore. It just…" The tears she'd been holding back finally began to trickle down her cheeks. "It hurts so much being in that empty house without him." Amanda wrapped her arms around her mother to comfort her. "And I know I'm becoming a burden to you spending so many nights at your house, but I-"

"Oh, stop!" Amanda interrupted. "You are _not_ a burden. In fact, it's been nice to have another adult around the house for a change; someone I can have a grown-up conversation with, but more than that, you're family so you're welcome to stay with the boys and me for as long as you like." She paused and pulled back as a thought struck her. "In fact, why don't you just move in for good?"

"What?" Dotty's eyes widened in surprise. "Amanda, I couldn't."

"Why not? You said yourself being at the house without Daddy is too hard and it's hard for me raising the boys without Joe; since it looks like I'm going to be without Joe for good, why not solve both of our problems at once? We can put the house on the market and I can move both the boys into Phillip's room so you'll have a room of your own instead of sleeping on the pullout. Besides that, it would give you a sense of purpose in helping with your grandchildren and it would help me a lot if I knew you were there to watch them when I need to run errands without them."

"Hmmm…but don't they always say you should never make big decisions like this right after a loss? You know, don't sell the house, don't quit your job, things like that?"

"Okay, so maybe we don't put the house up for sale just yet then. Maybe you just move in for awhile until you decide what you want to do. As for the job front, that's not really something you have to worry about since you don't have one, but it is something I need to worry about." She took a deep breath to steel herself to give her mother the news she'd been dreading. "I…um…I'm going to need to find work…soon, I think." She once again began fiddling with her bare ring finger. "You see, it's not just the ring. I…um…I've already consulted a divorce attorney."

"Oh, Amanda, no. Isn't this the same kind of thing; a major life change while you're grieving?"

"No, Mother, I began calling around about divorce lawyers six months ago, before Daddy was even sick. It wasn't just what he said to me when he was dying. The things he said only confirmed what I already knew; it's over between Joe and me."

"Then you really are going to need me around all the time, aren't you?" She smiled at her daughter, relieved that she had a reason to give into Amanda's request without having to confess that she had absolutely no desire to return to her own home where she'd be swarmed with memories of her dead husband. How was she supposed to heal that way if she couldn't get out of her own head? Plus, she knew all too well just how busy the King household was and it would be good for her to stay busy instead of thinking too much.

"I really am," Amanda admitted. "But just in case it doesn't work out, we'll hang onto your house for as long as we need to and if you ever decide you're ready to move back into it…well…I'll help you pack."

She hugged her daughter tightly. "I love you, Amanda."

"I love you too, Mother," she replied as she hugged her back.

Dotty was the first to end their embrace. "Come on, let's go pack up some of my things and get to officially moving me in."

"You got it," Amanda agreed as they walked arm in arm out of the cemetery together, both on the verge of being ready to move forward with their lives.


End file.
